Self propelling vehicle



No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 1.

R. P. STEWART. ELPPROPELLING VEHICLE.

Patented Feb. 1l, 1896.

MMM/Wfl@ RQF. STEWART. SELF PEOPELLING VEHICLE.

2 SheetsShet 2.

@No Modell) No. 554,319. l Patented Peb. 11, 18:96

:the vehicle with and revolves in Fig; 6. The shaft sbrought into and out pivoted to one-end 5` chesterand State of New York, have invented' la specification.

Y used maybe propelled by any suitable motive ,i ts outer end is mounted a gear-'wheel b having 'connected to the clutch a2,

fclutch, andV thus bring the shaft into 'and out ATENT unica.

RICHARD F. STEWART, oF -MoUNr PLEASANT, NEW YoRK.

SELF-PROPELLING VEHICLE.

SPECIFIcArIoN raming pare of Letters Patent No. 554,319, dated 4reimmy 1 1, 1896.

Application mea ramry 9,1895.

To `@ZZ whom t may concern:

.Be it' known `that 1, RICHARD STEWART, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Mount Ileasant,.in vthe county of Westcertan new and useful Improvements in Self- Iropelling Vehicles, of which"tl1e following is refers to mechanism for and regulating the movements of ;A and it consists especially in a novel construction of' gearing by which the motion of` the vehicl'ecan be reversed and its speed regulated, and in mechanism attached` thereto for operating and controlling vthe same. i V

In the accou pan'ying drawings, illustratingA niyinvention, Figure 1- is aplan view of the bottom of the vehicle, showing the controlling mechanism' in position. Fig. 2'isa sideV view of the vehicle. Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, ofthe impr ved gearing. Fig. 4 -is an end elevation of pat of the gear-` Mgg-lookingl from the front of the vehicle.` Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the same,4 and Fig. 6 is a detail. Y

The vehicle on which my improvement is M y improvement controlling power. In the construction shownv `in the drawings the motive power is anaphtha-en` gine contained in the box A attached to the bottom of the vehicle.V This engine engages v a shaft d extending lengthwise of the vehicle and supported under the latter by the bearings of a'. On'this shaft near on its face opposite the engine three setsor. series of cogs orteeth Z1', b2, and b3, as shownof engagementwith the engine by means of a frictio'n-clutch. (Shown lat a2.) `Extending across the shaft is a rod c, Fig. l, pivoted at one end to the post d on the bottom. of the vehicle.- This rod is fastened by the pin c' to a hub so that as the'rod is swung back and forth ii' will operate the of engagement. lhe free end of the rod ois underneath thebottoln of the vehicle and is connectedy at itsother 'end to one army of the of the rod c, which passes r bell-crank e, Fig. secured beneath' the front serai No. 537,748. on man passes up through the floor of the vehicle vin front of the drivers seat in position to be' reached by his foot, and by which the rodsve and out of engagement with the engine. The gear-'wheel b engages with and communicates itsmotion to the gear-wheel f or g mounted on-the shaft h at right angles to the wheel lg. This shaft .h extends across the bottom.v of the vehicle beyond the sides of the latter, and ter-4 minates in small cog-wheels, (not shown in the drawingsL) which gear into gears 'zo on the rear wheels W of the vehicle. The revolution of the wheel b on the moved andthe shaft al brought into shaft u, is thus communicated through the wheel f org and the shaft h" to the wheels of the vehicle, and propels. the latterg; and, as will be understood from Fig. 1, if the wheelf on the l one side of the wheel b is engaged with the latter, the shaft h is re- `volved in one direction and the wheels W are caused to turn so; as to propel the vehicle for`- ward, and if the wheel g on the other side of the .wheel b engages with the latter the shaft Vh is revolved in the opposite direction and` .the wheels XV made to turn soas to propel the wheels' backward.'

g is made to engage with the wheel i). p wheels j' and "g are mounted on the shaft hin such positions that only one of them can en# gage with the wheel b at one time, and thus if. thewheel fis in engagement with the 'wheel b 'the wheel g will be out of engagement, and vice versa.

As 'statedabove, and as shown in Fig. 6, the cogwheel b has three'sets rgseries of teeth on its face which cogs o n either of the wheels The The vehicle is thus moved forward or backward as either the wheel f or4 .96 mayengage with the f or"`g. V As will be evident, if the outer teethjb next tothe rim of the wheel b engage with` either ofv the wheelsfor g the latter wheels will be revolved at the same speed as the wheel 1),'or'at lthe greatest speed attainable, while if the wheel for g ismade to engage with the inner setof' teethbsnext to the hub'of the wheel l) the revolution of the wheel f or less than that of the wheel speed will be obtained, and with the teeth?)2 n will prod noe `an intermediate 'rate of speed.

The vehicle can thusr be Pi'of .g1-will be muchn and a slower.'A the engagement IOOV ' pelled at varying rates ot' speed by bringing the different sets of teeth onthe wheel b in' engagement with, the wheels f or g.

The wheels fand r/ are brought into en gagement with either of the series of teeth on the wheel b'by sliding the shaft hon which they are mounted back and forth in its 'bearings h.

of the vehicle.

.Then mechanism for moving, the shaft and the wheels secured on it so the latter will en.-`

-gage with the wheel b,r and thus for starting 'thevehicle in either direction o r varying its speed, is as follows: Extending across the shaft h,.outside of the wheels f and,v g, are

rods i and j, one end' of which is pivoted to the posts L" andj', respectively, on the bottom There these rods cross the shaft they are bifurcated so as to pass around the latter, and are there connected with a col-l lar. on the shaft by the pins '2 and j?, so that the'movement of the lrods in either direction causes a corresponding movement of.. the

shaft. VThe free ends of -the rods and .7 are .pivotedvto ythe cross-rod 7;, which thus connects the 4rods with each other and causes them--to-movetogether. The rod k 'is con- '.nected to'one arm of the bell-'crank I, secured .to the bottom ofthe vehicle, the other arm of which is pivoted-to the rod m, which passes .under the bottom of the vehicle, toward the I lower end-of the lever n.

stood from Fig. l, as the lbell-crank is turned bythe rod 'mthe rod laconnected with it isl l j 4moved back or forth across the vehicle and' front o'f-the latter,l where it is secured to the swings the free ends of the rods i andj in the same direction, thus sliding the shaft h in'its of the sets of teeth on the wheel I, and thusbearings and bringing the wheel f or g int-o .engagement with either of the sets of teeth on the wheel b. Therefore by moving the lever n, which is conveniently placed for the hand" of the driver or operator, either of the wheels f org. is brought into engagement with leither thevehicle moved forward or backward and Aat any speeddesircd.

Then the wheels f o r y are brought into engaggement with the wheel Zi', and particularly if the latter' wheel is revolving, there in danger lthat they ends ofthe cogs of the ree spective wheels will strike each other and be damaged. moved back, away from the wheels'f and .g at

the moment thelattcr are brought into posi.

tion for engagement, vand afterward moved forward to itsformer position.' This backi and-forth noveme'nt' ofthe wheel b, which is .only momentary while the wheels fand- 'g are movingl, is produced by the rod 1o, pivoted at one enr latter, andjconneeted by the pinoto a'eoll lar on the hnbfb ofJt-'he wheel vbbnclr of the latter; This rod oextcnds across 4the bottom of the vehicle and ymeets the rod mi. The latterwrod, where it is met .by the rod o, is serrated or providedwith aseries of teeth m', between which the redo rests and isheld. On or near the end? of the 'rod ois a beveled pro- As will beu'nder To obviate this flic wheel .b is.

to the post of', seas to swing on the' sse-sie jecti'ng piece 1.1, having sides inclined in bothY directions, as shown in Fig. 5, and projecting up toward the 'bottom of the vehicle. On `the latter, and extending downward in line with phaving the sides next'to the piece j; inclined so as'to engage. with the latter.

As will b e evident, when therod nl. is 1n ovcd in the directie; indicated bythe arrow in Fig.

the projection p,V are two projecting pieces p' 1 the end of the rod o, held between the teeth m', is moved with 'the latter and swung around on the post o', thus sliding the hub b. connected with it and moving the wheel b back from the wheels fand g; but as the end of the rod o moves with the rod nt the beveled projection p on the former strikes the incline-- of the fixed projection p', and sliding along the latter is forced downward together with the rod o, and thus brings lthe latter rod out of engagement with the teeth m and forces it from its connection with the `rod 1n.

by the-spring q andv vslides the wheel b to its Asvr soon as it is thus freed, the rod ois swung back` former position so the wheel will engage with the wheels for g, and is itselfsprnng back into. the next notch on the rod m, between the teeth ym'. The position of the ixed projection pis such that the, extent of 'the movement of the rod o, before the projeet-ionp strikes the projection 1J' and the rod ojis dis.

connected fromthe rod m, is just enough to move the wheel b back suicientto clear the .wheels f and g. The movement of the redo is thusl 'very slight, and the backward and forward motion of the wheel I1 almost instan- -taneons 4As that part of the rod o where it is connected with the hub b' must always swing in the same direction to move the vwheel b back clear of the wheels f and g to cause this movement ofl this portion of the rod o when the rod m, and consequently theout'er end of 'brought vagainst the stop s and-this outer' portion turned von-the hinge or joint r, and, by reason of the stop or projection r' on the hinge, the inner portion of the rod connected with .the hub of the wheel b is swung back in the direction to slide the wheel b back from the wheels fand g'. A's the endof-thcrod o AIOO IIO

moves, the projection p Vstrikes `the projection p and disconnectsltherod o from the rod-m, when the rod lo is brought back to its former position by the Ispring q, asbeforedescri-bed. Hence, by means of the mechanism above described, whenever either o'f the wheels for v] is broughtl into engagement with Vthe wheel .l1 to cause vthe vehiele'to move forward or backward the wheel b is' drawn hack as the other wheels are moved, and thus any interfering of the cogs lon the respectivefwheels prevented.

` To allow'the wheels W' to revolve independ-- ently of each other when the vehicle is turning or backing, I place on the ends of the shaft h suitably-constructed clutches t. ,By means of these clutches either Wheel can move independently o f the shaft and thus of each other,

and the vehicle canv turn withoutaecting thegearing..

In place of the toothed gearing shown and described a frictional gearing may be, em-

ployed if desired, constructed and operating in the manner set forth above. y

What I claim is- `l. In a self-propelling vehicle, in combinerV tion, the gear-wheel b mounted on a sha-ft engaging with the motive power, gear-w`hee1s j and g mounted at right angles thereto on a shaft engaging with the wheels of the vehicle, mechanism whereby one of the wheels j' or g is brought into engagement with the wheel b, and other mechanism whereby the wheel b is Withdrawn back Vat 'the moment engagement l is made with it7 substantially as described.

2. In a gearing for"se1fprop e11ing vehicles, the combination with ythe gear-,wheel b,

mounted on a shaftconnected Wit-h the motive power, and arranged to engage with the gear-wheels fand g; of-the `jointed rodi o connected to the wheel b, andI provided at its free end with the projection p; and the rod 'm havingthe teeth m', whereby as the rod m is moved in either direction the rod o moves the 'wheel back away from the wheels f and g at,

the moment of contact. with the latter, substantially as described.

3. In a self-propelling vehicle, in combination, the gear-'wheel tb mounted on a shaft connected Vwith the motive power, lrod o connected-to. the wheelb and adapted to move the Wheel back at the momentA engagement is made therewith, gear-wheels fand. g mounted lon thel shaft h atl right angles to the wheel b,

RICHARD F. STEWART.

Witnesses:

M. WILSON, FRED S. KEMPER`-` 

